My prior application Ser. No. 08/080,534, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,225, discloses an apparatus and method for launching confetti into the air by the simple act of waving a one-piece, hollow tube filled with confetti in a arcuate motion such that the confetti flies out of the tube under centrifugal force. The confetti is preferably in the form of unwrapped stacks of confetti pieces, or wrapped stacks of confetti hereinafter referred to as bundles. The confetti is preferably of four-sided shape such as the elongated tetragonal, and preferably rectangular, confetti as more fully disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,403,225 and 5,352,148. The elongated hollow tubes disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,225 are of constant diameter and are preferably filled with multiple stacks or bundles of confetti aligned in series along the length of the tube with each stack or bundle being in slight frictional contact with the interior wall of the elongated tube. For example, the shorter tubes, such as those in the order of 6 inches in length, generally contain in the order of 3 to 4 stacks or bundles per tube, while longer tubes, such as those in the order of 12 to 18 inches in length, generally contain in the order of 6 to 12 stacks or bundles per tube.
In use, such confetti-filled tubes are waved with the forearm and with a flick of the wrist one or more times until all of the stacks or bundles of confetti have been ejected from the tube high into the air. Once used, the empty plastic tubes have no further utility and thus become immediately disposable. Such tubes of constant diameter, sold under the trademarks FLUTTER-FLICKER for the shorter tubes and FLUTTER-FLINGER for the longer tubes, have been very commercially successful such that hundreds or even thousands of empty tubes may remain on the premises after use and disposal on the ground by fans at a sporting event, or by attendees at an amusement park or other event such as a parade. Such tubes have been composed of thin-walled, relatively rigid plastic, such as propionate or styrene, for example. While such plastics are ideal from a cost and manufacturing standpoint, the job of picking-up hundreds or a thousand empty plastic tubes presents an additional burden on the grounds keepers and maintenance personnel. Also, the frictional contact of all of the bundles with the interior surface of the tube tends to retard ejection of the later-ejected bundles which are located further from the open end of the tube.
One solution of this problem is disclosed in co-pending application Ser. No. 08/368,500 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,319) which discloses a reusable confetti-launching wand in several embodiments. In some embodiments, the wand comprises a handle with a separable barrel, and in other embodiments the wand comprises an integral, tapered and/or flexible tube having a barrel portion and a handle portion. All of these embodiments are reusable and are very effective in launching unwrapped stacks or wrapped bundles of confetti high into the air; i.e., 20 feet or more. However, the manufacturing cost of wands with separable handles and barrels, as well as the manufacturing cost of tapered wands which must be molded, is much higher than the cost of the constant-diameter plastic tubes disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,225.